Pornography: Internet
(asked on 15th March 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of UK children who have accessed online pornography since their decision not to bring Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 into force in October 2019.
Answered by
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill will go further than the Digital Economy Act 2017, protecting children from a broader range of harmful content on a wider range of services. The Digital Economy Act was criticised for not covering social media companies, through which a considerable quantity of pornographic material is accessible, and which research suggests children use to access pornography. The online safety framework will cover all online sites that offer pornography, including commercial pornography sites, social media, video-sharing platforms, fora and search engines.
HM Government has commissioned research to build the evidence base on harms to children online. This will review the prevalence and impact of a wide range of harmful content online, including pornography, to ensure that the Online Safety Bill provides comprehensive protections for children.